Code of Federal Regulations

Definition

Overview

Congress delegates the authority to regulate certain activities to administrative agencies, which apply specialized knowledge to the creation and enforcement of those regulations. A statute grants an agency the authority to promulgate certain regulations. E.g., in 1970, the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. §7401 et seq., authorized the [http://www.epa.gov|Environmental Protection Agency] to establish national air quality standards. The EPA established these standards in a set of regulations, which can be found in part in 42 CFR Part 51. The Federal Register publishes every agency's new regulations every day. Every year, under 44 U.S.C. § 1510, the Federal Register also publishes a compilation of these regulations: the Code of Federal Regulations.